Developing umpiring in any sport is essential for upholding the integrity of the sport, enhancing the quality of competition, ensuring athletes safety, and fostering a positive experience for all stakeholders involved.
General development of umpiring is overseen by the Inernational Taekwon-do Federation (ITF) Umpire Committee. It is responsible for all aspects related to the ITF Rules of Competition and, in particular, for training and qualification of future ITF umpires in various multiday courses all over the world, the International Umpire Courses (IUC), most recently in April in Argentina and in India. The IUC is a well proven tool for securing the quality of ITF competitions.
The most prominent advanced in umpiring are seen in other areas. One of them is digitalization. Digitalization in competition organization and umpiring is omnipresent for several years now. It is well known that technology occupies an increasingly prominent place in the organization of competitions regarding registration, scoring, and onsite and online presentation of live competition results. Always with the aim of obtaining fair results in an efficient and effective manner.
For ITF authorized championships, the ITF Information Technology (IT) Committee is responsible for defining standards for all software and hardware that will be used during the event. In addition, it organizes and monitors the online registration system, and it is responsible for maintenance of the electronic scoring systems and their accessories, ranging from computers and monitors to the network used at the tournaments. As a toll to the increased digitalization, the role of the IT Umpire was introduced to have experts at every ring to oversee all electronic aspects. The multiday qualification courses are held online, most recently on the last weekend at the beginning of May.
The second area of advances in ITF umpiring and development in competition is driven by inclusion. In a historic move, the ITF is prioritizing diversity and inclusion in umpiring by introducing rules and initiatives for a so called adapted category. This category ensures that individuals of all abilities have the opportunity to participate in Taekwon-Do competitions.
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As part of this initiative, the ITF will launch its first-ever umpire course at the beginning of June specifically tailored to individuals interested in officiating in the adapted category. The course will be jointly overseen by the ITF Umpire Committee and the ITF Inclusion Committee to account for both, quality and specialization. This groundbreaking step underscores the ITF’s commitment to fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment within the global Taekwon-Do community.
The ITF’s development and advances in umpiring and competition will not stop at digitalization and inclusion, but improvement of identified issues and new concepts will continuously ensure that ITF tournaments are at the forefront of the martial arts world.